Sisters, Secrets, and a Sleepover

As night deepened.

In Jiang Lengleng’s room, Jiang Zilin was laying out futons on the floor.

The woman hummed an off-key tune, resembling a gleeful primary schooler on a spring outing, her dark blue nightgown adding to her cheerful demeanor.

Yet, even amidst this “noise pollution,”

Jiang Lengleng remained focused at her desk, diligently completing her practice papers, a sight that filled Chen Ran with admiration.

‘A top student, indeed. A true academic.’

Chen Ran mused.

Sleeping in Jiang Lengleng’s room, of course, had been Jiang Zilin’s idea—presumably, she feared that Chen Ran and her sister might unearth something scandalous from her own room.

Most likely, it would be the collection of naughty comics she had amassed over the years.

Neither Chen Ran nor Jiang Lengleng had the heart to expose her.

‘But never mind.’

Hesitantly, Chen Ran grumbled to Jiang Zilin.

“Big Sister, I think I’ll just go back upstairs to sleep…”

“Absolutely not!”

Jiang Zilin declared, hands on her hips, her voice imbued with righteous indignation.

“What if Xiao Ran gets snatched away by a ghost in the middle of the night?!”

‘…’

‘Considering I’m the one playing the ghost, how could I possibly get snatched away?’

Chen Ran was speechless.

Yet, seeing Jiang Zilin’s earnest expression, it was clear she wouldn’t let him escape.

‘Tsk.’

‘The main issue is that sleeping with the sisters tonight makes it difficult to slip out and play the ghost. It seems I’ll have to pretend to go to the bathroom later, then quietly sneak away…’

Chen Ran thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zilin, having finished laying out the bedding, pointed to the two futons placed centrally between the beds and whispered to him.

“Xiao Ran, tonight, do you choose to sleep on the left or the right~”

“Is there a difference?”

“The difference is whether you want to cuddle with Big Sister or cuddle with Lengleng~”

“I want to sleep alone.”

“No!”

“Then I’ll cuddle with you.”

Chen Ran said decisively, and just as he expected, Jiang Zilin, seeing that he had finally taken the bait, quickly hummed with delight and declared.

“Look, Lengleng! Didn’t Big Sister tell you? Xiao Ran is the naughtiest! He’s going to ‘do’ Big Sister in your room tonight, right in front of you!!!”

As it turned out,

No one paid her any attention.

Jiang Zilin quickly puffed out her cheeks again, then scampered over to her sister, who was still doing homework, and feigned a pouting plea.

“Lengleng, won’t you sleep with Big Sister tonight~”

“Mhm.”

The young girl nodded, casting a ‘are you kidding me’ look towards her sister.

‘Of course,’ she thought. ‘With only two sets of bedding, if the sisters don’t sleep together, is someone really going to sleep with Chen Ran?’

“Hmph, Lengleng truly isn’t cute at all.”

Observing her sister’s expressionless face, Jiang Zilin, disheartened, pinched the young girl’s cool cheek, only to find Jiang Lengleng emotionlessly continuing her practice papers.

She then reluctantly turned her head and began to pester Chen Ran.

“Xiao Ran, did you know Lengleng wasn’t cute at all when she was little either?”

“Is that so?”

Chen Ran replied, feigning nonchalance.

“Yes, yes!”

Jiang Zilin quickly scurried over, settling beside him, and began to complain about her sister.

“Lengleng has always been like this. Can you believe it? When we watched cartoons as kids, she would just be like this…”

She mimicked her sister’s expressionless face.

😶😶😶.

‘Truly sisters, the resemblance is uncanny.’

“Can you believe she could watch cartoons like that for an entire afternoon?”

“She was only three back then! Little girls on the same street were all giggling with snotty noses, playing in the mud at the park!!”

‘Uh…’

Chen Ran glanced at the young girl, still cold-faced and diligently writing her papers, and mused, ‘If it’s Sister Lengleng, it’s not impossible.’

“Oh, right, right!”

As if suddenly recalling something.

Jiang Zilin suddenly rose quietly, making a shushing gesture towards him.

Then, she tiptoed to the bookshelf on the other side of the room—Sister Lengleng’s room was quite simple. One side held her own bed, but its blue and white plaid bedding and sheets had now been moved to the floor.

Transforming into futons.

Beneath the windowsill on the other side was the young girl’s desk. Next to the desk stood a wardrobe, beside the wardrobe a bookshelf, next to the bookshelf the door, and beside the door, the bed.

It formed a complete circle around the room.

However, the desk, the wardrobe, the bed, and even the floor were all piled high with thick books—some for studying, such as exercise books and mock exam papers.

There were also various novels: foreign and domestic, sci-fi, horror, romance, traditional, short stories, long novels, and magazines.

They were crammed everywhere, filling every available space.

Since a single bookshelf couldn’t hold so many books, they were stacked in various spots throughout the room.

‘Sister Lengleng truly loves reading.’

Chen Ran couldn’t help but think this, then wondered if Big Sister’s room, on the other hand, was strewn with all sorts of naughty manga instead.

‘Tsk.’

He wondered what Jiang Zilin was up to.

Chen Ran watched as she quietly walked to the bookshelf, then skillfully located a small drawer and swiftly pulled out a notebook that appeared quite old—at least five or six years old.

Its cover was not only gaudy, adorned with cute cartoon cat and dog stickers,

but it also featured a metal clasp, resembling a locked diary.

However,

Jiang Zilin clearly knew the password already, opening it with ease.

The ‘clack’ of the lock simultaneously caught Jiang Lengleng’s attention.

“Sis, what are you doing?!”

Yet Jiang Zilin completely ignored her sister, instead quickly scampering back to him, giggling foolishly to herself as she spoke.

“Xiao Ran, look, look! Look at this!”

“Huh?”

“[‘Ah, she is a person of such beauty, a maiden as pure and white as an ice crystal, like a jewel from a million years past. Lonely, solitary, she stands upon that pristine white tower, waiting, gazing out for her fated prince…’]”

Jiang Zilin read it aloud, her voice ringing out.

As a result,

“Sis!! Do you want to die?!!”

Jiang Lengleng, who had just been doing her homework, immediately dashed over, instantly pouncing on her sister, intent on snatching the diary.

Chen Ran had truly never seen the usually composed young girl in such a state of panic, looking utterly “red-lined” (TL Note: A gaming term referring to a character’s health bar turning red when critically low, here used metaphorically to describe someone reaching their breaking point or being extremely flustered) and desperate.

The two sisters wrestled on the bed for a while, until finally,

Jiang Zilin, the otaku (TL Note: A Japanese term for a person with an obsessive interest, typically in anime or manga), was clearly no match for her sister, a captain of the archery club and a provincial short-distance running champion.

Swiftly,

Jiang Lengleng, huffing with indignation, carefully took the notebook back, even changing its password. She clutched it, looking as if she intended to hide it only after Jiang Zilin had left.

‘But…’

‘What’s the point of hiding it?’

Chen Ran mused, knowing that Jiang Zilin was responsible for all the cleaning in the house; finding anything she wanted would be effortless for her.

“Is that a novel Sister Lengleng wrote before?”

Chen Ran immediately guessed, realizing the notebook was indeed Jiang Lengleng’s “dark history.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

Jiang Zilin grumbled as she picked herself up from the floor, continuing,

“While other kids her age were eating popsicles and going down slides at the park, she was at home every day writing stuff like this. It was truly terrifying.”

“And you have the nerve to say that! You clearly just wanted me to take you out! What kind of older sister are you?!”

‘She’s really flustered now.’

It was visibly clear that Jiang Lengleng was genuinely agitated.

“Big Sister was just afraid you’d be lonely at home by yourself.”

“Pfft!”

“Wuwuwuwu, Xiao Ran, look! Lengleng always bullies Big Sister. You tell her off!”

‘…’

Watching the two sisters, Chen Ran rubbed his head.

He decided it was best to quietly retreat back into his futon.

‘There’s no managing them…’